MLS

He's one of the BEST goalkeepers in the world ... and Chelsea superstar Thibaut Courtois says he's considering moving to the U.S. and playing in the MLS one day.

The 24-year-old superstar was at a Hublot event in L.A. Thursday night -- when we asked if he would ever consider following in the footsteps of stars like David Beckham and Robbie Keane who migrated from the Premiere League to the MLS.

"Yeah, I might retire here," Courtois said ... "It's nice to have an experience abroad of Europe and if I would choose a country to do that it would be here."

There's more with Thibaut, we also ask the Belgian-born athlete:

-- Is your daughter going to play soccer?

-- What's your favorite Belgian beer?

-- Who's the best player to ever score on you?

-- Can the U.S. ever win a World Cup?

Anyone with dreams of watching 38-year-old Chad Ochocinco try his hand at the OTHER football is in for a rude awakening ... 'cause the ex-NFLer says there is NO WAY he'd ever try his hand on the pitch.

We got Chad leaving a restaurant in L.A. when we asked the soccer addict if he had any plans to take his athleticism to the MLS now that it looks like he's done in the NFL.

Not a crazy question ... Ocho plays a lot of pick up soccer in his off time ... and looks pretty good out there when he's doing it ... not to mention the whole "being a world class athlete thing."

Check out the clip ... Chad says it's never going to happen ... but does give us a hint at what his celebration dance would look like if he ever scored a professional goal.

One package to rule them all ... and that package belongs to David Beckham ... so says Tommy Hilfiger who tells TMZ Sports the soccer icon is the GREATEST male undie model of all time.

This clip is actually pretty great ... it starts with our photog asking Tommy for a modeling job -- and in what may be the nicest "Don't call us" moment of all time, Tommy sings Beckham's praises as the "Underwear model of the century."

The interesting part -- Beckham never modeled for Tommy ... in fact, DB only ever modeled for the competition (Armani, H&M).

So ... sorry Mark Wahlberg ... and Antonio Sabato Jr. ... and Mehcad Brooks -- but when it comes to Tommy's pick -- you guys just didn't measure up.

Say what you will about Louis Tomlinson, but the One Direction singer's got a serious pair of cojones for taking a stand on one of the biggest arguments in sports -- Messi vs. Ronaldo.

Louis -- who dabbles in pro soccer himself -- was leaving a tattoo shop in L.A. this weekend when we asked him ... who's the better player??! The pretty boy or the Atomic Flea?!

It's a raging controversy in the football world ... here are the cliff notes for the debate:

-- Ronaldo has 38 goals in '13/'14 play ... Messi has 27.
-- Messi outscored Ronaldo by 18 GOALS in the 2 seasons before that.
-- Messi has 13 more assists than Ronaldo over the past 3 seasons.

But ... Ronaldo is bigger where it counts -- his wallet.

According to Goal.com, Ronaldo's worth €148 million ... while Messi's only worth a puny €146 million.

Jennifer Lopez's ass went all "Fatal Attraction" in a tiny pair of tropical shorts ... shouting to the world: "I'm not gonna be ignored."

The 44-year-old mother of two flaunted her endless legs and famous cheeks while filming a music video with Pitbull and Brazilian singer Claudia Leitte in Ft. Lauderdale for the song "We Are One."

Or, in this case ... two.

David Beckham says he's stealing a play from the Miami Heat when it comes to building his new MLS franchise -- because he wants to BUY UP all the best players in the league.

Becks just announced his plans to buy a brand new Major League Soccer franchise based out of Miami -- and also said he might get his friend LeBron James to invest in the team.

And at the news conference in Miami on Wednesday, Beckham made it clear he wants to find a Wade, Bosh, James combo in the soccer world and bring all of their talents to South Beach ... no matter the cost.

"I've seen what happens to teams when you bring great players in, "Beckham said ... "I'm talking about the Heat."

"We will wanna bring some of the best players in football, in soccer, to Miami to play on this team."

Beckham says he doesn't even need a strong sales pitch -- 'cause Miami sells itself.

Gary Lineker is a soccer legend -- he's even been enshrined in England's Football Hall of Fame -- which is why it's a little shocking that someone with his experience and soccer knowledge believes Cristiano Ronaldo is better than Pele.

Lineker -- who's now a popular soccer analyst -- was leaving STK this weekend when we asked how Ronaldo's career compares to Pele's.

"Ronaldo is Ronaldo," Lineker told us ... "He's better than Pele."

Just a quick stat comparison:

Pele -- 3 World Cup titles
Ronaldo -- none.

You're MLS stud Jay DeMerit and your maple-loving fans just drove 315 miles to see you play -- but your team totally botched the match ... so whadda you do? Buy them a bunch of drinks and get wasted, duh.

TMZ has learned ... the Vancouver Whitecaps captain showed up at a bar called The Vault in Portland, Oregon Saturday night -- after suffering a brutal loss to the Portland Timbers -- and ran into a group of 25 of his BIGGEST fans.

Jay tells TMZ -- he was pretty pissed, but when he saw the fans -- who call themselves "The Handbags"-- he changed his 'tude.

Jay knocked a few back with the group, pounding vodka-sodas, beer and a specialty drink called "The Handbag." In return the group taught him some awesome soccer chants.

The MLS captain covered the $600 tab -- He tells us, "The fans paid a lot of money to travel from Vancouver and if I can give them a good memorable night, then why not?"